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The moment to test what we-are-made-of, is here

Ladies and Gentlemen, as the power of big-government comes under threat the attacks on skeptics and free citizens grow worse than ever. We are all busy, but we cannot let this one get past. Art Robinson is one of us, one of the original skeptics, back when hardly anyone else was. He’s been a key player, dismayed, like the rest of us at the way science was being used for political purposes. Indeed, he was so dismayed, he ran for congress as a Republican last year. Against an allegedly full-on smear campaign from the incumbent Congressman Pete DeFazio, Art managed to get 44% of the votes in a long-held Democrat seat.

Oregon State University Library

The shocking thing is that, right now, Art has six children, and three of them simultaneously are getting their PhD projects canceled, snatched, and dismissed. They are or were all studying at Oregon State University, and despite all three having put in years of work and getting great grades, they are now locked out of labs or faced with the prospect of losing all their work.

OSU received $27 million from the same Democrat Congressman Pete DeFazio’s government that Art challenged.

“DeFazio and the other Oregon Democrat congressmen sent a reported $27 million in earmark funding to OSU during the last legislative cycle, and Robinson opposes all earmark funding.” [link]

Note that the issue right now is Art Robinson versus OSU. Robinson is making no comment about DeFazio in connection with this, and focuses on OSU members who are allegedly involved in the problems his offspring are suddenly having.

Political payback – Oregon style

The idea that three outstanding students – PhD candidates at OSU – could face dismissal, and worse, shortly before receiving their degrees, is simply shocking. That this could be happening because their father had the temerity to challenge an entrenched 12-term Democratic congressman (and OSU earmark purveyor) could make people think the university is in Zimbabwe, not America.

What are the odds that three formerly outstanding students all suddenly slide to the point of having their projects canceled and simultaneously? And the last name of each student is “Robinson”! Does Jack Higginbotham, professor of one, who stood up for them all, deserve to lose his job too?

We didn’t ask to face this threat, but if we allow it to happen, it makes the next threat more likely, and potentially so much more unthinkably worse. There is something we can do.

The people pulling these strings are not even trying to disguise it. It is an open threat to all who oppose big-government, or who dare to run against a powerful incumbent. The message is that it’s not worth running for office, or voicing dissent on “establishment” topics, because those in power are too powerful already and have patrons who may bring pain to you and your family. How many potentially good candidates would not want to play that game and be dissuaded? Those potential candidates lose, and the voters lose too. No wonder good honest men are deterred from politics.

It doesn’t matter what side of politics you are on and whether you are a skeptic or not. Only the corrupt benefit from this injustice. If you believe in democracy this kind of attack is simply not-on.

Only a Russian could sum things up this pointedly.

From Paul Driessen:

As one reader – a Russian, in St. Petersburg! – wrote to me after seeing my article online over the weekend: “I’ve seen a lot of Edward Ray’s in schools and universities of my Soviet Russia. The only really shattering piece of news is that the painfully familiar situation is happening not in some Communist hell, like Cuba or North Korea, but in the USA – IN THE USA!!!” This is what we are up against. The only question is, What are we going to do about it?

The details of Joshua, Bethany and Matthews work are described on the Oregon State Outrage blog. They are all working towards PhD degrees in nuclear engineering.

The work of the three younger Robinson students is already being “assigned” to other students, without their credit. The machine that Joshua helped design is now off-limits to him. Without it, he can’t finish his work and he can’t complete that work at any other university.

What kind of man is Art Robinson?

Let the record speak. This man is a go getter, self-starter, hard-worker to the core. But more-so, he’s a man of integrity.

Art Robinson is a true scientist to the core — last year he wrote a document about the current state of science that was so insightful I blogged part of it in: The truth shall make you free.

Art was the man who set up the Petition Project — the mass volunteers effort to collect and verify signatures of scientists in the US who are skeptics. I quote it all the time: 31,500 scientists, including 9,000 PhDs.

Art is a man who raised six children, mostly single-handedly, because he lost his wife and their mother, in 1988 when the youngest was just 18 months old. He home-schooled them. As he describes it, he realized he could not keep teaching them one by one, so he wrote a home-schooling curriculum where they teach themselves. Over 60,000 children have used the Robinson Curriculum. It is still in use today.

Art Robinson is best known in science for his pioneering biochemical research work on the amide molecular clocks that are built into almost all protein molecules, work that has been brilliantly extended by his son Noah Robinson. In addition, Art is known for originating and carrying out much of the original work in the field of metabolic profiling, which is now a large part of the discipline known as “metabolomics.” This work involves the quantitative measurement of human health and disease by means of the quantitative analysis of biochemical patterns that are imprinted in the amounts of thousands of metabolic substances that can be measured in human breath, blood, urine, and tissues. [From Oregon State Outrage].

The PhD work of Bethany, Joshua and Matthew

Joshua began research work under Assistant Professor Michael Hartman, and together they developed and built a Prompt Gamma Neutron Activation Analysis Facility, a spectrometer that uses the OSU nuclear reactor as a source of neutrons for unique analytical work. Joshua’s building of this machine received an OSU award; and Joshua, still mentored by Hartman, began collaborations in its use with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, WA, and the National Bureau of Standards in Washington, D.C. Joshua now requires about one more year of work with this spectrometer to complete his PhD work.

Bethany, on the basis of her outstanding undergraduate record, received an excellent OSU fellowship. She, too, wanted do her PhD work under Hartman, who had directed her first experiences in research as she carried out calculations for the OSU reactor refueling project. Professor Todd Palmer, however, told Bethany that it would not look good for her and her brother to have the same advisor and also that he would give her a mathematical calculation problem that could be used for both her MS and PhD degrees, so she could finish her PhD more quickly. He also repeatedly told her that she was his best student.

Since Bethany likes and is very skilled in mathematical work and she wanted to complete her PhD as soon as possible, she accepted Palmer’s offer.

When Matthew later arrived, he began research work under Professor Jack Higginbotham, who, in addition to being a 24-year veteran of the OSU faculty, is President of the OSU Faculty Senate and director of the Oregon Space Grant Consortium, a large OSU NASA program. Matthew’s research under Professor Higginbotham involves conceptual and design work involving the use of nuclear propulsion for unmanned exploration vehicles in far outer space.

Matthew had turned down an offer of $57,000 per year from the MIT graduate school in preference for OSU.

By the way, two of the three older Robinson children, Zachary and Arynne, became Vets, while the third, Noah earned a PhD in Chemistry.

This is bigger than just the gross injustice against three students

The way this issue is settled sets a precedent for any future candidate fighting an incumbent.

We didn’t ask to face this threat, but if we allow it to happen, it makes the next threat more likely, and potentially so much more unthinkably worse. There is something we can do.

A group of alumni at OSU are so incensed they have formed a group to take action.

Citizens everywhere who want less corruption, and a fair break for hard work, need to let OSU know that if these PhD’s are lost, the university will become a laughing stock. Who would want a degree from such a corrupt institution? What uni wants to be boycotted by the smartest students, consigned to the dustbin, known for being a tool of tyrants? How many prospective OSU students would now weigh up their choices differently if they know that capricious whimsy could destroy their work.

What we can do

Please help us. Only public pressure can save these students and also the career of a prominent professor at OSU who warned them and tried to help them. In retribution, these same people are poised to destroy his career, too. Please ask these people why the destruction of the academic work and careers of the Robinson students and Professor Higginbotham is so important that they are willing to sacrifice the good name of Oregon State University.

Please ask them to stop the attacks on the Robinson students and Professor Higginbotham.

UPDATE:OSU responded here which says that ““The university has found no factual basis for the accusations made against those faculty members,” but pointedly does not say all three students are welcome and are expected to be able to complete their studies.

Afterthought: I’ve done a little editing to make it clear that for this issue the focus is on Robinson vs OSU, not Robinson vs DeFazio.

UPDATE #2

Thanks to Sierra you can see this video and watch the Uni-spokesman say that “they don’t know what he’s talking about” and “the students face no impediments”. Then a segment later see Art Robinson speak. All the students have lawyers now. When the uni spokesman says Bethany is working towards a Masters Degree, and “it is misinformation that she’s working towards a PhD”, bear in mind, she’s been there for 5 years, was enrolled in a PhD, and according to Bethany has faced many delays, was asking to convert to a Masters, and was refused that”. It’s all too easy to make life tough for a student, then when faced with public pressure, simply deny it. In the end it’s impossible for outsiders to know exactly what happened, but in the end, even if Art Robinson’s children all graduate eventually from OSU with their qualifications, people who are thinking of speaking against the Establishment can see that they face penalties for speaking freely. Who would want to run a campaign to keep public pressure on a university, just to keep your kids enrolled? Even if Professor Higganbotham is not sacked, he’s hired lawyers too. Speaking out to stop injustice also carries a price. Many people would feel the price is too high. Ultimately we are all poorer.

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1 comment to The moment to test what we-are-made-of, is here

I have just returned from the Cenotaph where the locals honoured my wife’s uncle, who was killed in action – shot down over Kiel in 1942 – and her father, who was badly wounded just south of Tripoli, the day before that city was taken.

My father survived 66 operations with 75 (NZ) Squadron, and a further 16 with 487 Mosquito Squadron (of Amiens Prison raid fame), and my mother’s brother was killed on operations with bomber command in Europe.

The thought that they and 100′s of thousands millions of others sacrificed their lives or their youth in a massive world-wide effort against tyranny and dictatorships, for a democracy for the likes of DeFazio to debase and corrupt is sickening, and he and his ilk should be ostracized and pilloried until they are no longer in office.

great Expose Jo, The only Question I have to ask is why has it taken this long to receive this kind of attention.

I posted the following on this site on March 8th.

Bob Malloy:
March 8th, 2011 at 8:19 am

Moving off topic:

Oregon Dems attack climate skeptic’s children
March 7, 2011

Democrat-run Oregon State University is apparently retaliating against climate skeptic and congressional candidate Dr. Art Robinson by taking action without cause against his three graduate student children.

Don’t make waves, we have ways to get you.

Robinson states, They initiated an attack on my three children – Joshua, Bethany and Matthew – for the purpose of throwing them all out of the OSU graduate school, despite their outstanding academic and research accomplishments. OSU is a liberal socialist Democrat stronghold in Oregon that received a reported $27 million in earmark funding from my opponent, Peter DeFazio, and his Democrat colleagues during the last legislative session.

[Bob, thanks, you deserve a hat tip. I did follow your link, I noticed it was up on Watts Up, though the crowd didn't seem to "get" it in the comments. I have met Art, so I wrote to him to confirm what was happening and get an update, but didn't hear back (he must be run off his feet). It was only when I got SPPI's post from Paul, that I found the link to OregonStateOutrage, which had the answers I'd been looking for. So there you go -- that's how it can take so long to gather steam. --JN]

No person would identify the grave as that of a dedicated clergyman who created the Dawn Service, without the simple marker placed next to the grave only in recent times. It reads:

“Adjacent to, and on the right of this marker, lies the grave of the late Reverend Arthur Ernest White, a Church of England clergyman and padre, 44th Battalion, First Australian Imperial Force. On 25th April 1923, at Albany in Western Australia, the Reverend White led a party of friends in what was the first ever observance of a Dawn parade on ANZAC Day, thus establishing a tradition which has endured, Australia wide ever since.”

Reverend White was serving as one of the padres of the earliest ANZAC’s to leave Australia with the First AIF in November 1914. The convoy was assembled in the Princess Royal harbour and King George Sound at Albany WA. Before embarkation, at four in the morning, he conducted a service for all the men of the battalion. When White returned to Australia in 1919, he was appointed relieving Rector of the St John’s Church in Albany. It was a strange coincidence that the starting point of the AIF convoys should now become his parish.

No doubt it must have been the memory of his first Dawn Service those many years earlier and his experiences overseas, combined with the awesome cost of lives and injuries, which inspired him to honour permanently the valiant men (both living and the dead) who had joined the fight for the allied cause. “Albany”, he is quoted to have said, “was the last sight of land these ANZAC troops saw after leaving Australian shores and some of them never returned. We should hold a service (here) at the first light of dawn each ANZAC Day to commemorate them.”

That is on ANZAC Day 1923 he came to hold the first Commemorative Dawn Service.

As the sun was rising, a man in a small dinghy cast a wreath into King George Sound while White, with a band of about 20 men gathered around him on the summit of nearby Mount Clarence, silently watched the wreath floating out to sea. He then quietly recited the words: “As the sun rises and goeth down, we will remember them”. All present were deeply moved and news of the Ceremony soon spread throughout the country; and the various Returned Service Communities Australia wide emulated the Ceremony.

I’ve sent an email registering my disgust to EVERY one of those addresses.

There’s an organization that has an unwritten rule; you can go after the man but not his children. They’re seen as non-combatants. If they allowed that to happen then nobody is safe. It’s strictly enforced too.

If it’s obvious to the Mafia, you’d expect OSU not to go down this McCarthyite path.

I recall reading about this on Jo’s earlier thread. I’m amazed it is still going on.
I’m a great believer in situations like this that you go right to the top –don’t waste time with the little guys. The person leading the support group should write to Barack Obama and ask him directly if he supports young people in the USA being treated like this from anyone but especially from a fellow Democrat.
Unfortunately I cannot see the contact from the links provided as to who I should send this suggestion to and as a non American I don’t think I should do it myself.

Robinson and his children have produced no evidence to support his allegations,and OSU has denied the charges. More here.

[Well that's easy then isn't it... the Robinsons are making it up, and all three siblings can finish their PhD's right? Right? Just because the uni claims "confidentiality" and refuses to confirm their story speaks volumes. The uni does not deny that all their PhDs are threatened. --JN]

[...] As one reader – a Russian, in St. Petersburg! – wrote to me after seeing my article online over the weekend: “I’ve seen a lot of Edward Ray’s in schools and universities of my Soviet Russia. The only really shattering piece of news is that the painfully familiar situation is happening not in some Communist hell, like Cuba or North Korea, but in the USA – IN THE USA!!!” This is what we are up against. The only question is, What are we going to do about it? Jo Nova’s site here [...]

I wrote to Edward Ray last month and have had no reply. Sadly, this is a mirror of what we have been seeing across the climate science community. Emboldened as it were by the antics of Mann, Briffa, Jones and Hansen the academics at OSU are closing ranks on dissent.

Well, if it is possible for somebody to purchase the dismissal of a PhD at an institution of learning, then it is presumably possible for somebody to purchase the award of a PhD at the same institution of learning.

It is like the old story of the man who asked a woman at a party, “Would you sleep with me for $100,000?”

After some thought, the lady said that she probably would, whereupon the man asked her to sleep with him for $10.

“What do you think I am?” demanded the woman.

The man replied, “We have established what you are, it is the price we are negotiating”.

I am sure that the University will have some protocols pertaining to the receipt of donations, and that these protocols would be legally binding, and could therefore be the subject of a subpoena, should this matter ever come to court.

If I found myself in a similarly unfortunate position as Art Robinson, I would not produce evidence at this stage of proceedings either. Such is workings of the American legal system.

These types of attacks are in play in politics all the time. There is NO accountability to decisions made.
The politics of pressure comes in many forms from mostly through monetary decisions of the higher up the chain to achieve a hidden agenda. “Shaping societies decisions” at the voter box.

Today being Anzac Day, is when we reflect on those who stood shoulder to shoulder with us in our hour of need. Sounds like we in Australia need to stand shoulder to shoulder against those who would perpetrate this injustice!

I knew that Academia in the US had become PC to the point of risibility, but this goes so far beyond the pale it leaves a gnarled old cynic like me gobsmacked.

Surely, as a state funded institution, the state politicos can seek to rescind it’s funding or at least parts of it? I would have thought the lawyers, at least, would be sniffing around this from all angles. I wonder how the MSM in the US will be treating this?

You obviously need to search for the truth – email the presidents office (email given above in JO’s article) at OSU and ask for the enrollment status of the three children. You will find a strange answer!

Read my comment again @ 14 – you will find I was disputing the evidence you said existed in “More here” link @ 9. Loaded Dog is correct above – but you Warren are oblivious to the waste and offal that is fed to you by the same (similar) institutions that are highlighted above!

Accusations are inadequate – quoted above are the same inadequate rubbish you sprouted in your original post. You are fortunate to be educated to read – never mind in ENGLISH – once again read the comments above on the ANZAC spirit! (Bring back MattyBee – at least there is a sliver of intellect (and humour) with his comments)

You cannot shame Barack Obama. I wrote to him, on paper, about the unrecognized crisis of incompetence in science the day after he was elected, and received only a 3X5 card with “thank you for writing”, after 4 months. He was brainwashed from his youth, epitomizes the current widespread inability to focus on the critical evidence in any field, and personally exults in what I, to put all the political hysteria in the proper perspective, call the “War of the Insane Left”. They are out for revenge (against the Bush presidency, against past slavery and racism, against the excesses of capitalism, and yes, probably against every personal injustice each of them has experienced in life), and for them the ends justify any means that comes to hand. I just saw a portion of a TV program on “The Third Reich: The Rise”, within the last hour. It was familiar to me, and was depressing (knowing how it would play out), so I didn’t continue watching it. The Left is trying to emulate the rise of the Third Reich; that is, they want all the power and no opposition. Anyone of any maturity knows that government, academia, and all large institutions utilize the same absolute power, absolutely corrupted and corrupting, to maintain themselves and those at the top. And ALL of our scientific and political institutions, and the media, have already been suborned by the supposedly righteous image they have been projecting for decades. The global warming hysteria is just the current tip of their spear, to be pushed regardless of the truth. And just as most Germans were not Nazis, most of those defending the obscene cllimate “consensus” are not evil. They are, however, thoroughly incompetent, and brainwashed to be accepting of evil. All the signs are that it will only get worse, until there are no “lukewarmers” left, in climate science, all of science, or in politics. Shortly after, it will be World War III in earnest. And it will be our own fault if we refuse to see it coming.

I disagree. If you accept, support, and defend evil you ARE evil! There is no compromise between reason and faith, objectivity and subjectivity, life and death. If not one, then the other. There is no middle ground.

To be evil is to be irrational as a general policy. One can make a mistake and not be evil. A persistent failure to attempt to detect and correct one’s mistakes is evil. To persistently evade evidence of one’s mistakes, is evil. Refusing to think, question, or identify accurately is evil. The initiation of force and fraud upon others and the resultant poverty, despair, death, and destruction are simply external consequences of the evil that is within.

As you point out, the internal methods and ultimate goals of the alarmists are the same as the Nazis. Only the words and pretended purposes are different. The evil is the same and has the same consequences. If we ignore this, we become part of the problem rather than part of the solution.

AS for what to do, I encourage all USA visitors here to contact their own Representative and any other Reps. within their respective states. Make them aware of what is going on and especially if they are Republican. This appears to me to be just another example of dirty rotten politics and every taxpayer, every honest citizen needs to stomp it out.

This issue is not just about the USA. If such blatant corrupt practices are allowed to succeed in a democracy then we are all going to suffer. Everyione should write to the faculty irrespective of country.

Ironic & very frightening that UN, the venerable institution whose primary objective is maintain world peace & the wellbeing of humanity, could very well ultimately prove to be the stimulus for WW3.

If we continue down the path the UN seems to have mapped out for us, it would leave many nations feeling like Germany in the clutches of the Treaty of Versailles. Aggrieved, deprived societies are as always the perfect breeding ground for extremists.

Fortunately,(or otherwise) the US deficit & it’s looming downside will probably sweep most of the “recycled hippie middle class first world Gaia guilt” to the bottom of the agenda.

@ Lionel Griffith: If you accept, support, and defend evil you ARE evil!

In some religious ethical systems with broad acceptance, it is enough to ignore evil and do nothing about it to be connivent with it and just as evil. Therefore, I wrote a few emails and gave some more exposure to this. That’s the simplest thing I can do.

No use wiritng to Obama as he and his mates are busily working towards the USSA. (The United Socialist States of America). The situation at OSU is exactly what his cronies would encourage. Unless the people of the USA wake up their country will fall into the hands of those purposely de-engineering (fundamentally transforming) this once great country.

OT, sorry. This comment from Barry Cohen, ex Federal ALP minister in today’s Australian may cause even more panic amongst the ALP Federal Government MP’s:

If reform doesn’t occur quickly there will be a massive revolt, particularly in NSW. There are tens of thousands of Labor supporters who, if they don’t see genuine reform, will vote for a new, social democratic party. A public meeting called tomorrow for disenchanted Labor supporters would pack the Sydney Town Hall.

The ALP has to jettison the carbon tax, or something even worse than losing an election or three could be about to occur.

There is ” more than one way to skin a cat” as the old saying goes. Write to Obama in a polite way requesting an answer– if you don’t get a reply or you get a “fob off” type of response then you give the infomation to a good journalist to publicise. If you get a good response you send it directly to the head of the university.
Pointman @ 8 — can you give me the right mailing address for Obama –I’ll give it go.
( NB. I don’t think an e-mail is worthwhile as it is too easily deleted by some office boy.)

I’ve sent emails to all the OSU addresses mentioned above, including a thanks to Prof Higginbotham. The more they know people from around the world are watching what happens, the more likely the right outcome will eventually be forthcoming.

This issue is not just about the USA. If such blatant corrupt practices are allowed to succeed in a democracy then we are all going to suffer. Everyione should write to the faculty irrespective of country.

I hope to clarify that @ 29 I didn’t mean that ONLY USA citizens write. Instead what I meant was that ESPECIALLY USA citizens write. Politicians, I hope, do still listen to their constituents!

To be clearer, what JoAnne has suggested is that we contact the players at the Uni. My comment was to induce pressure by informing fellow Congressmen of this situation and thereby cause additional exposure.

I would suggest that Barry Cohen observe more closely the NSW election results. Former ALP voters opted in droves for the Coalition. They mostly left the Independents AND Greens out in an electoral ice age.

Sometimes I wonder if this “Carbon” Tax will even see the light of day in the Reps. Labor backbenchers know it will very likely lead to a mass extinction event. Whilst Tony Windsor could either abstain or oppose the Bill, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that people like Turncoat Turnbull could cross the floor and see it passed.

Whatever, those same backbenchers know that they will cop the electoral wrath, thus, might just see to it that the Bill never comes to a vote. Strange times indeed.

UPDATE #2:
Thanks to Sierra you can see the video and watch the Uni-spokesman say that “they don’t know what he’s talking about” and “the students face no impediments”. Then a segment later see Art Robinson speak. All the students have lawyers now. When the uni spokesman says Bethany is working towards a Masters Degree, and “it is misinformation that she’s working towards a PhD”, bear in mind, she’s been there for 5 years, was enrolled in a PhD, and according to Bethany has faced many delays, was asking to convert to a Masters, and was refused that”. It’s all too easy to make life tough for a student, then when faced with public pressure, simply deny it. In the end it’s impossible for outsiders to know exactly what happened, but in the end, even if Art Robinson’s children all graduate eventually from OSU with their qualifications, people who are thinking of speaking against the Establishment can see that they face penalties for speaking freely. Who would want to run a campaign to keep public pressure on a university, just to keep your kids enrolled? Even if Professor Higganbotham is not sacked, he’s hired lawyers too. Speaking out to stop injustice also carries a price. Many people would feel the price is too high. Ultimately we are all poorer.

For what it is worth, email to president and every address listed above.

Dear President,

I have learned via various media outlets that Oregon State University (the University) has seen fit to disallow the three brilliant Robinson Siblings, namely Joshua, Bethany and Matthew Robinson from continuing in their individual studies and thus from ultimately being awarded their individual PHD’s.

I have also learned that courageous Professor Higginbotham is in danger of loosing his job because he has seen fit to defend these students against the actions of the University.

Can you please advise the following.

1. The enrolment status of each of the Robinson siblings.

2. On what grounds the University has seen fit to interfere in any way with these students study.

3. That the Robinson siblings have full access to all resources in order to complete their studies.

4. The tenure status of Professor Higginbotham

5. On what basis the University has seen fit to consider or threaten sacking demoting or otherwise stalling the tenure of Professor Higginbotham.

I must say I am, as are many Australians, outraged at the conduct of the University in what can only be described as a personal vendetta against the Robinson siblings father.

For this to be wide news across the world makes a laughing stock of the university.

Further, the inverse implication stigmatises ANY PHD awarded by the University as a PHD for cash not competence.

I can’t see either of these papers students being in the next IPCC report graduation. Kevin and I faculty adminstration will keep them out somehow – even if we they have to redefine what the peer-review literature academic process is !

I’m not sure of all the background but it appears the claim is that the authorities in question are taking actions outside their authority in a arbitrary and damaging manner. Their academic positions, if this is the case, do not protect them from personal lawsuits against them. What we outside are not aware of are the reasons given by those people for their actions.
Surely they must respond to the Robinsons’ with formal explanations for their actions.
Am I missing something?

Very interesting poll with implications for (energy) business as usual in China.

“China, the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter, ranked 105th out of 111 among the countries polled by Gallup. Only 21 percent of Chinese said they believed global warming is a somewhat serious or very serious threat to themselves or their families.”

Gallup: Majority of Human Race Does Not See Global Warming as Serious Threat
Monday, April 25, 2011

Warren @ 9 stated and OSU has denied the charges. yet the link is garbage. There is no proof as you state – give me the enrolment status, the ETA of the PHD’s for each of the children and the current class (masters, honours etc currently achieved to date) for the term 2011 January to July.

This story does not ring true, but there definitely isn’t enough information to form an opinion stronger than a hunch. Right now its just “he said”, “she said”, and has wasted a few minutes of my life.

It seems Robinson has been making these claims for six months,but has produced no documentary evidence. David,how are you going with the evidence…ya know,files,correspondence,corroborative statements from other parties. What do Robinson’s grown children have to say,or do they leave it all to dad?

It seems Robinson has been making these claims for six months,but has produced no documentary evidence. David,how are you going with the evidence…ya know,files,correspondence,corroborative statements from other parties. What do Robinson’s grown children have to say,or do they leave it all to dad?

What do we need courts for? According to you, apparently, everyone should put out all their evidence in the papers and then let dopes like you decide. Get rid of the lawyers, courts, judges, laws, etc. Mob rule indeed.

Everyone is lawyering up — this is going to court. It’s perfectly obvious that you have no idea how civil and criminal courts work (yes, I wouldn’t be surprised at criminal charges, eventually). You apparently conclude from this that your ignorant rantings constitute important commentary.

I’ve sent emails to all the OSU addresses mentioned above, including a thanks to Prof Higginbotham. The more they know people from around the world are watching what happens, the more likely the right outcome will eventually be forthcoming.

Public outrage can work, especially at public institutions that are dependent on alumni donations. I sent a letter 2 months ago to President Ray reminding him of the sharp drop in revenue experienced by the University of Colorado when it seemed that they were giving Professor Ward Churchill a pass. Even after CU officials found some backbone, it took quite a while for donations to recover.

I think I’ll send similar letters to the other officers so conveniently linked above.

Right, lets think of all the reasons Art Robinson would want to risk his career and three of his children’s careers by making a scene out of their PhD’s…

a/ The university is being nice and supportive to them all and he wants to turn their profs, the student body (and his kids) against him. Ie. he is insane.
b/ The university is threatening their work and even though his political opponents will use this against him in the next election he felt public pressure might save their careers, so he had no choice.

How could making up something like this help his career or his children’s if there was nothing to it?

If he was trying to public sympathy there are 100 better ways to do it.

wes george:
April 26th, 2011 at 8:42 pm
I urge all good Americans to move to TEXAS where the land is good and the government is small.

OT wes, but what do you make of the grass fires? Dozens of fires, all started in a short time frame during high winds, and all within the state of Texas, but spread over the entire state.

I’m begining to suspect that some organization is targeting your state. Keep your eyes open and your powder dry.

We’ve had some similar fires along the Front Range in Colorado this winter — all started in conditions of wind, at places where there should be nothing that could initiate a fire innocently (power lines, etc.). Privately, the Sheriffs and rural fire departments suspect arson, but they aren’t going public yet. I’m encouraging people to carry digital cameras in their cars and to record cars and/or people who seem to be acting strangely. Nothing will be done with these records unless some more fires break out this spring — then they might provide some leads.

Um, did I miss something? What has any of this got to do with the climate change debate or have we just transformed this site into a general discussion of politics?

The arguments for CAGW are mostly political (or politically motivated) — it’s what Eisenhower warned about in his 1961 farewell address to the nation. (Everyone knows about the “Military-Industrial Complex” part — read the bit about the “Scientific-Technological Elite”.)

Sorry Jo but I can’t agree with you on this one. The whole persecution story simply doesn’t gel.

a) The Robinson children at OSU have solid but hardly outstanding academic results. Many students applying for Ivy League graduate schools have a perfect GPA of 4.0 from other elite schools. [A four year US undergraduate course is typically only equivalent to about second year of a quality Australian degree. A US Masters degree is roughly equivalent to an Australian bachelors degree.]

b) I’m guessing Matthew Robinson’s $57,000 MIT scholarship offer was only a part-scholarship to be paid out over 4-5 years. MIT is ranked so far ahead of OSU that it irrational to even consider OSU as an alternative unless money was a major issue.

c) The two older Robinson children don’t have “doctorates” in veterinary medicine. They each have a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine which is roughly equivalent to an Australian undergraduate veterinary science degree. This simply indicates that they are hard workers not geniuses.

d) American universities throw around out scholarships like confetti to attract postgraduates. So it is hardly surprising that Bethany was offered a scholarship at OSU.

e) University faculties may be petty and vindictive but they invariably follow university rules and processes to the letter.

f) I suspect that Art Robinson is probably just as eccentric as his former boss Linus Pauling.

My suspicion is that the Robinson children are probably quite intelligent but far from being the geniuses implied in this story. They simply may be struggling quite a bit to complete their programmes.

Joanne, for what it’s worth, I sent the following email to Joan Stueve, Ray Edward, and Todd Simmons.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I’ve been reading some articles on the internet regarding OSU’s treatment of three PhD candidates who happen to be the children of Dr. Robinson. Experience has taught me that just because something appears in print doesn’t make it true. From what I’ve read, however, OSU seems to be on a crusade to prevent three of Dr. Robinson’s children from obtaining their PhDs. I ask myself: “Why Dr. Robinson’s children?” Could it be (1) Dr. Robinson’s politically incorrect stance on anthropogenic global warming (AGW), (2) Dr. Robinson is a political opponent of Pete DeFazio, an OSU benefactor, or (3) one or more valid reasons? Given that all three of Dr. Robinson’s children are affected, probability alone argues that “valid reasons” isn’t the answer. If OSU’s treatment of these PhD candidates is some combination of (1) and (2), then shame on OSU. Only you know for sure.

When I read the articles describing OSU’s actions, the image of book burning rallies in Germany in the 1930s immediately came to mind. The German government wanted to “cleanse” the minds of the German people and get the populace “thinking right.” In part the German government used monetary incentives to get the universities to go along with its program of “right thinking” to include the “science” of eugenics. If to any appreciable degree your treatment of Dr. Robinson’s children is to (a) ensure continued funding and/or (b) get the masses “minds right” relative to AGW, then I ask you: How are you any different than the German government in the 1930s?

I’ve never been to a book burning rally; but it’s an event I’d like to witness. So, I’d appreciate it if you’d give me a few days advance notice of OSU’s next book burning rally.

Robinson is trying his case in the press,BobC,because he has absolutely no case in the courts.

Whatever is going to court,whatever “evidence” he claims to have,Art Robinson has no legal case,as his children are independent adults. They will be the ones deciding on litigation.
So far,Robinson has reproduced correspondence to show that one of his kids is having some commonplace procedural disagreement with his faculty. Wow.

Warren (@104): You’ve simply restated your original (and only) argument — Robinson has no case to go to court with (you claim) because he hasn’t put that case in the newspapers.

It’s blindingly obvious that:
1) You’ve never been to court, and
2) You can’t be bothered to do any research about it.

That could be due to laziness — but concluding that, because you are ignorant of any facts in the case, therefore you know what you are talking about is a sign of a more serious mental disability.

Whatever is going to court,whatever “evidence” he claims to have,Art Robinson has no legal case,as his children are independent adults. They will be the ones deciding on litigation.

After court documents are filed and made public, then a critique might be valuable. (By someone who actually knows something — a lawyer say. I have no doubt that your comments will remain just as useless as now.) If you did know anything about lawsuits you would know that their merit is judged at trial, not before they are filed.

I could, for example, sue you for being so inane as to cause me mental anguish. I’ve no doubt I would lose, as the court would certainly decide that I bring it on myself by reading your comments.

I read about this some months back. I still don’t think it’s much to get excited about. Universities in the US are incorporated entities. If the Robinson children aren’t getting the service they paid for then they have the right to take the university to civil court.

This, I believe, is pretty much where the situation is going.

There’s an adage in the software industry which is appropriate here. That is to not open the stable door after the horse has bolted. Or, in other words, don’t hype your product too early before release. Otherwise people are bored of it before it comes out or, they are let down that your product didn’t doesn’t actually make your life completely fulfilled. What may be a good product, might undersell on account of a poor marketing strategy.

This is true of Art Robinson’s 2012 tilt at congress. He should wait on the lawsuit result which should be resolved before or during the campaign. That way he’ll get more bang for his, and his childrens’ buck.